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Ostler’s Plantation - 103 Hectares
Woodhall Spa
Ostler’s was once a Second World War RAF base and still has remnants
of the military buildings on site. The airfield was opened from 1942 to 1945
and prior to the arrival of the dambusters, Ostler’s was used by 97,106,
619 squadrons with their 34 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos, 617 were the elite
of Bomber Command.
An old airfield building is a bat hibernation where long eared bats roost.
Corsican and Scots pine trees were planted on site following the war. There
are also broadleaved trees dominated by birch and oak. The underlying geology
consists of sands and gravels derived from glacial outwash over impervious
chalky boulder till.
Wildlife
Heathland plants include Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea and Erica tetralix,
wavy hair grass and flying bent grass. Other wildlife of interest include
the hazel pot beetle and pirri-pirri bur. This is thought to have been brought
into the country from New Zealand on an airman’s boot. Herons can be
seen circling the woodland.
Directions:
In the parish of Kirkby-on-Bain, the plantation lies behind the LWT’s
Kirkby Moor Reserve on Moor Lane which runs from Kirkby-on-Bain to Woodhall
Spa.
Key Species on Site:
Adder
Nightjar
Bog myrtle
Woodpecker species
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